Global University Venturing

Université libre de Bruxelles has added a fourth Theodorus fund to its arsenal with an initial close of $23m and a target of up to $33.5m.

Bsense Bio Therapeutics has emerged from stealth with a round of undisclosed size that involved Takeda Ventures and Johnson & Johnson Innovation–JJDC.

The UCL Technology Fund is in line for an exit from gene therapy developer Orchard Therapeutics, which has raised more than $290m in equity funding.

OmniSci, formerly known as MapD and based on research at MIT, has added $55m to its coffers thanks to investors including Nvidia and Verizon, bringing its total funding to $92m.

The 2016 Purdue spinout has been backed by angel investor Archibald Cox and the Ustar Tap accelerator as it seeks US defence agency-adoption for its missile propellant.

Oxford regenerative medicine spinout OxStem, which raised $24.4m in 2016, has launched two subsidiaries to focus on therapies for diabetes, chronic inflammation and wound healing.

Yale University’s endowment will reportedly back a $400m cryptocurrency-focused fund called Paradigm together with investors including Sequoia Capital.

CSU Ventures added five spinouts and 36 licensing agreements to its portfolio during the 2018 fiscal year, taking its total to 45 and 315 respectively.

Editor Thierry Heles sits down with David Grimm, manager of the UCL Technology Fund, to find out what makes the fund unique among its UK and international peers.

A roundup of all the latest news on www.globaluniversityventuring.com for our subscribers.

University of Waterloo is suing its grid battery manufacturing spinout Salient Energy, which it claims must sign back IP rights due to a misapplication of its tech transfer policy.